What Happened
In February 2001, the Los Angeles Zoo lent Clarence, a 250-kilogram, 75-year-old Galapagos tortoise, to the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College in Moorpark CA.
The first night in his new home, Clarence wrecked it: “He just pushed one of the fence poles right over,” said Moorpark's Chuck Brinkman, quoted in a 9 February 2001 Los Angeles Times story.
Why it Happened
The L.A. Zoo warned that Clarence was big, and needed an enclosure for an animal that weighs in at about 250, so that's what the college built.
Unfortunately, they thought the zoo meant 250 pounds, so the enclosure wasn't adequate for holding a 250-kilogram beast.
Winning Long Jump Record Lost
What Happened
University of Houston sophomore track star Carol Lewis made a record-breaking long jump at the NCAA Men's and Women's Indoor Track Championship, 11–12 March 1983 in Pontiac, MI.
However, her jump did not qualify as an official record.
Why it Happened
To be considered as official records, college sports track and field measurements must be metric. However, officials hosting the games refused to use metric tapes. As a result, the non-metric measurements don't qualify as official records. For record-setting purposes, measurements cannot be converted to metric after the event.
[Source: American National Metric Council Metric Reporter, May 1983.]
Loss of Mars Climate Orbiter
What Happened
Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) was launched on 11 December 1998 on a mission to orbit Mars as the first interplanetary weather satellite and to provide a communications relay for another spacecraft, the Mars Polar Lander. MCO was lost on 23 September 1999 when it failed to enter an orbit around Mars, instead crashing into the planet, destroying the $125 million craft, part of a $328 million mission.
Why it Happened
The root cause of the failure was a computer program that was supposed to provide its output in newton seconds (N·s) but instead provided pound-force seconds (lbf·s). From the mishap investigation report:
Angular momentum management is required to keep the spacecraft’s reaction wheels (or flywheels) within their linear (unsaturated) range. This is accomplished through thruster firings using a procedure called Angular Momentum Desaturation (AMD). When an AMD event occurs, relevant spacecraft data is telemetered to the ground, processed by the SM_FORCES (“small forces”) software, and placed into a file called the Angular Momentum Desaturation (AMD) file.
The JPL operations navigation team used data derived from the Angular Momentum Desaturation (AMD) file to model the forces on the spacecraft resulting from these specific thruster firings. Modeling of these small forces is critical for accurately determining the spacecraft’s trajectory. Immediately after the thruster firing, the velocity change (ΔV) is computed using an impulse bit and thruster firing time for each of the thrusters. The impulse bit models the thruster performance provided by the thruster manufacturer. The calculation of the thruster performance is carried out both on-board the spacecraft and on ground support system computers. Mismodeling only occurred in the ground software.
The Software Interface Specification (SIS), used to define the format of the AMD file, specifies the units associated with the impulse bit to be newton seconds (N·s). Newton seconds are the proper units for impulse (force × time) for metric units. The AMD software installed on the spacecraft used metric units for the computation and was correct. In the case of the ground software, the impulse bit reported to the AMD file was in English units of pounds (force) seconds (lbf·s) rather than the metric units specified. Subsequent processing of the impulse bit values from the AMD file by the navigation software underestimated the effect of the thruster firings on the spacecraft trajectory by a factor of 4.45 (1 lbf·s = 4.45 N·s).
As a result of the incorrectly computed trajectory, the spacecraft's initial periapsis (low-point in the Martian orbit) was only 57 km; the minimum survivable periapsis was 80 km.
Wouldn't an error that large — a factor of 4.45 — have been noticeable? Yes, as it turns out: “Almost immediately (within a week) it became apparent that the files contained anomalous data that was indicating underestimation of the trajectory perturbations due to desaturation events.” However, for a variety of reasons, the source of the inconsistencies wasn't determined until after the loss of the spacecraft.
For the details, read the Mars Climate Orbiter Mishap Investigation Board Phase I Report, issued on 10 November 1999.
(The other half of the mission — Mars Polar Lander — also crashed into the surface of Mars due to a computer program bug, but that incident was not related to measurement.)
Roller Coaster Derailment at Tokyo Disneyland's Space Mountain
What Happened
On 5 December 2003, the Space Mountain roller coaster at Tokyo Disneyland derailed when an axle broke just before the end of the ride; there were no injuries.
Why it Happened
According to a 21 January 2004 report from Oriental Land Co., which built and operates Tokyo Disneyland, the diameter of the broken axle was found to be smaller than its design specification. As a result, the gap between the axle and its bearing, which should have been about 0.2 mm, was actually over 1 mm, resulting in excessive play that caused more vibration than normal, eventually causing the axle to break.
The broken axle was one of 30 axles received in October 2002, all of which were found to be thinner than the design specification as a result of an error when they were ordered in August 2002.
That error arose from improperly maintaining the design drawings. In September 1995, the design specifications for the axle bearing had been changed to metric units, and the specification for the axles was therefore changed as well. As a result, there were two sets of design drawings. In August 2002, the old drawings were mistakenly used to order 44.14 mm axles instead of the correct, 45 mm parts.
The company confirmed that other orders for axles used the correct dimensions.
Gimli Glider: Boeing 767 Emergency Landing
What Happened
On 23 July 1983, Air Canada flight 143, a Boeing 767 flying from Montreal to Edmonton via Ottawa, ran out of fuel about an hour into its flight. At an altitude of 41,000 feet the crew received its first indication of low fuel pressure in one fuel pump, and a few seconds later, in the other fuel pump. (Aircraft are assigned altitudes that are multiples of 1,000 feet. 41,000 ft is about 12,500 m.)
An initial decision to divert to Winnipeg had to be abandoned when both engines failed. Luckily, the first officer was aware of a decommissioned air force base in Gimli, Manitoba, about 20 kilometers away, and the captain was an experienced glider pilot; they managed to land the 767 on the runway — now a drag strip. The partially extended nose gear collapsed on landing, stopping the aircraft before it hit anyone on the ground. Two passengers suffered minor injuries using the emergency slides to evacuate the aircraft.
Why it Happened
The aircraft's fuel quantity indication system had begun malfunctioning three weeks before the incident. It failed completely the night before the flight. The mechanic investigating the failure was told that no spares were available, but he discovered that pulling a circuit breaker brought it back to life, so he left the breaker open, the flight was fueled, and it flew from Edmonton to Ottawa to Montreal without incident.
In Montreal, a maintenance worker was assigned to manually check the aircraft's fuel levels, due to the problems with the fuel monitoring system. While waiting for the fuel truck, he decided to investigate the problem, although he had no training or authority to do so.
Curious about the open breaker, he closed it, causing the fuel gauges to again go blank. He left, and the crew, seeing the blank gauges, decided to resort to manually calculating the amount of fuel required for the trip back to Edmonton and on to Ottawa. (The problem was later determined to be a cold solder joint on an inductor combined with a design flaw that prevented the unit from switching to a backup.)
The maintenance workers performed a test that estimated that 7,682 liters of fuel were in the tank. They knew they needed 22,300 kilograms of fuel for the remaining flight, so the question was, How much fuel, in liters, should be pumped from the fuel truck into the aircraft? They were forced to resort to a manual calculation:
They multiplied 7,682 L by 1.77, the density of the fuel provided by the refueling company on their documentation: The aircraft, according to their calculations, currently had 13,597 kg of fuel.
Subtracting from 22,300 kg, they decided they needed to add 8,703 kg of fuel.
Dividing by 1.77 — the same density used in the previous calculation — yields 4,916 L, which was pumped into the aircraft.
However, 1.77 was the density of the fuel in pounds per liter (lb/L), not kilograms per liter (kg/L); the correct figure for kg/L would have been 0.80. As a result, they ended up with less than half of the required amount of fuel on board. (The fuel's density depends on characteristics of the fuel, so it's not a constant, and the value must be taken from documentation accompanying the fuel.)
The ground crew didn't notice the discrepancy because 1.77 was typical of numbers they'd seen before. They assumed the number was in kg/L, not realizing that this was the first aircraft in Air Canada's fleet to measure fuel in kilograms; density figures on paperwork hadn't yet been changed from lb/L. The refueler didn't notice the discrepancy because he had no idea where the aircraft was headed, so he had no reason to question the relatively small amount of fuel the crew asked for.
In addition, fuel amounts hadn't been calculated by hand since the days of three-man cockpit crews, where the flight engineer was responsible for checking the fuel load. That process was normally handled by computer on an aircraft like the 767. What if the computer wasn't working? In 1983, that question hadn't been adequately addressed.
On aircraft with a two-man crew, tasks formerly assigned to the flight engineer were either automated or assigned to ground staff, so theoretically the ground crew was responsible for ensuring adequate fuelling if the automation couldn't handle it. But maintenance crews had never been trained on how to calculate fuel, so they assumed the flight crew would handle it. But the flight crew had never been trained in this process, either. Furthermore, Boeing documentation at the time was inconsistent as to whether the aircraft could safely fly with a malfunctioning fuel monitoring system.
Media coverage at the time pointed out that this was Air Canada's “first aircraft to use metric measurements,” but that's only partially true. Although it was the first to measure fuel mass in kilograms rather than pounds, fuel volumes were already metric, in liters.
Olympic Triple Jump Loss
What Happened
At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, triple jump champion Melvin Lister was eliminated in the qualifying round. Although he had jumped 17.75 m in Sacramento the previous month, his top jump was only 16.64 m in Athens.
Why it Happened
A Kansas City Star article quoted Lister as saying, “Nobody told me they were only going to have metric out there. I couldn't figure out what my mark was.” And from the 21 August 2004 Los Angeles Times:
Lister blamed his problems on trackside officials' refusal to allow him to use his measuring tape, which measures distances in feet and inches and serves as a guidepost for him. He said he was told the tape “might hurt somebody” because of a spiked attachment and was told to use a metric tape, but he didn't have one and couldn't work with the metric tape organizers supplied.
“Nobody told me I need one,” he said. “Coming down, I need my running speed and to trust in my approach.”
Teammate Walter Davis, who advanced with a leap of 16.94 meters, scoffed at Lister's excuse. “When you're coming overseas, you've got to have a metric tape,” he said. “Mine is in feet and meters. You've got to come prepared.”
Korean Air MD-11 Crash
What Happened
On 15 April 1999, Korean Air flight 6316, an MD-11 freighter on a flight from Shanghai to Seoul, crashed shortly after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. The aircraft was destroyed, its three crew members and five persons on the ground were killed, and 37 on the ground were injured.
Why it Happened
The flight was initially cleared to an altitude of 900 meters, then instructed to climb to 1,500 meters. After reaching about 1,400 meters, the crew erroneously concluded that they had misinterpreted the altitude. Having decided that they should be at 1,500 feet, rather than meters, they began a rapid descent.
During the process, they lost control of the aircraft and crashed.
Note that aircraft altitudes are in feet throughout the world, except for China, Mongolia, and the CIS (former Soviet states), which use meters.
Medication Dose Errors
What Happened
In 2004, a baby was given 5 times the prescribed dose of Zantac Syrup, a medication for reducing stomach acid production, until a doctor pointed out the error a month later. Fortunately, the child was not injured, although doctors say there was a risk of seizure or stroke had the incorrect dosing continued.
Why it Happened
The doctor prescribed a dose of 0.75 milliliter twice a day, but the pharmacist labeled the bottle, “Give 3/4 teaspoonful twice a day.” A teaspoon is about 4.9 mL.
Note that an additional source of error, given a prescription in teaspoons, is that consumers might use teaspoons from the silverware drawer instead of measuring spoons.
See “Pharmacy makes another potentially dangerous prescription mistake” from WFTV for more details.
Source: USMA (United States Metrication Association)
The United States is the last first world country to retain a purely English system of measurement.
History of the Metric System:
1585
A decimal system for weights and measures is proposed (by Simon Stevin, in his book "The tenth").
1670
Gabriel Mouton, Vicar of St. Paul's Church in Lyons and an astronomer, proposes a metric system. Authorities credit him as the originator of what was to become the metric system.
1790
Thomas Jefferson proposed a decimal based measurement system for the USA. A subsequent vote in the USA congress to replace the current UK-based system by a metric system was lost by only one vote.
1790s
Investigations conducted into reforming French weights and measures, which result in development and adoption of the metric system. Credit for authorising this is variously assigned (depending on which document one reads) to Louis XVI, Napoleon and the National Assembly of France.
1795
The metric system becomes the official system of measurement in France
1840
Metric system compulsory in France since this date.
1800s
International support for metric system grows. International scientific community switches to metric system.
1900s
By 1900, 39 countries had officially switched to the metric system. By the end of the century virtually all countries, with the USA being the only notable exception, had switched to the metric system.
1959
UK and USA redefine the inch to be 2.54 cm. In 1963 the UK redefines the pound to be exactly 0.45359237 kilograms. In 1985 the UK redefines the gallon to be exactly 3.785411764 liters. The USA took similar steps, although the USA gallon is smaller and consequently has been redefined as 3.785411784 liters.
1960
The metric system officially renamed to "Système International d'Unités" (International System of Units), and given the official symbol SI.
Current
The metric system has been adapted by virtually every country, with the only notable exception being the USA (the other non-metric countries are Liberia and Burma). Some countries (such as the UK) are still in transition to the metric system.
The Metric System and the American Transportation System
Percentage of 1999 construction program in metric units.
Data collected by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) indicates that just under 65 percent of the 1998 construction dollars will be let for projects using the International System of Measurements (SI). Also, current estimates by the state departments of transportation (DOT) indicate that metric units will be used in projects representing 85 percent of the entire 1999 state-administered highway construction program. These estimates are a substantial increase from 1997 when projects using metric measurements made up 45 percent of the program. Metric conversion of the U.S. highway industry has come about primarily as a result of the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act. In this act, Congress mandated that federal government agencies use the SI metric system of measurements in their daily business to encourage U.S. industry to adopt SI and to become more competitive in the worldwide http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/septoct98/metric.htm
European Union Directive to Use Metric System:
European Response:
"After January 1, 2000, all products sold in the EU needed to specify and label in metric measurements only. Prior to implementation, the European Commission recommended a 10-year deferral of the metric-only directive, allowing companies to use dual labeling through 2009. The delay provides time for U.S. companies to prepare for a metric-only European market beginning January 1, 2010. After the EU Directive takes effect, member and associated countries will no longer permit dual indications of measurement. U.S. exporters can no longer label or print inches, pounds, or any other non-metric measurement on shipments. This affects labels, packaging, advertising, catalogs, technical manuals, and instructions."
American Response:
"An extraordinary row, involving major European and US industries, is blowing up over the European Commission's determination to make it illegal, in three years' time, for any products made in or imported into the EU to carry any reference to non-metric measures. Not only will this cost industries on both sides of the Atlantic billions of dollars and euros, but it is in direct breach of US federal law. The Commission is so set on stamping out the hated non-metric system that, as of January 1, 2010, it is imposing a total ban on what it calls "supplementary indications" – ie any mention of inches, pounds or other non-metric units in advertising, labelling, catalogues, manuals and the like. "
Convert to Metric
Because everything is HUGE in metricsUnit Mixups:
Escape of the 250-Kilogram Tortoise
What Happened
In February 2001, the Los Angeles Zoo lent Clarence, a 250-kilogram, 75-year-old Galapagos tortoise, to the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College in Moorpark CA.
The first night in his new home, Clarence wrecked it: “He just pushed one of the fence poles right over,” said Moorpark's Chuck Brinkman, quoted in a 9 February 2001 Los Angeles Times story.
Why it Happened
The L.A. Zoo warned that Clarence was big, and needed an enclosure for an animal that weighs in at about 250, so that's what the college built.
Unfortunately, they thought the zoo meant 250 pounds, so the enclosure wasn't adequate for holding a 250-kilogram beast.
Winning Long Jump Record Lost
What Happened
University of Houston sophomore track star Carol Lewis made a record-breaking long jump at the NCAA Men's and Women's Indoor Track Championship, 11–12 March 1983 in Pontiac, MI.
However, her jump did not qualify as an official record.
Why it Happened
To be considered as official records, college sports track and field measurements must be metric. However, officials hosting the games refused to use metric tapes. As a result, the non-metric measurements don't qualify as official records. For record-setting purposes, measurements cannot be converted to metric after the event.
[Source: American National Metric Council Metric Reporter, May 1983.]
Loss of Mars Climate Orbiter
What Happened
Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) was launched on 11 December 1998 on a mission to orbit Mars as the first interplanetary weather satellite and to provide a communications relay for another spacecraft, the Mars Polar Lander. MCO was lost on 23 September 1999 when it failed to enter an orbit around Mars, instead crashing into the planet, destroying the $125 million craft, part of a $328 million mission.
Why it Happened
The root cause of the failure was a computer program that was supposed to provide its output in newton seconds (N·s) but instead provided pound-force seconds (lbf·s). From the mishap investigation report:
Angular momentum management is required to keep the spacecraft’s reaction wheels (or flywheels) within their linear (unsaturated) range. This is accomplished through thruster firings using a procedure called Angular Momentum Desaturation (AMD). When an AMD event occurs, relevant spacecraft data is telemetered to the ground, processed by the SM_FORCES (“small forces”) software, and placed into a file called the Angular Momentum Desaturation (AMD) file.
The JPL operations navigation team used data derived from the Angular Momentum Desaturation (AMD) file to model the forces on the spacecraft resulting from these specific thruster firings. Modeling of these small forces is critical for accurately determining the spacecraft’s trajectory. Immediately after the thruster firing, the velocity change (ΔV) is computed using an impulse bit and thruster firing time for each of the thrusters. The impulse bit models the thruster performance provided by the thruster manufacturer. The calculation of the thruster performance is carried out both on-board the spacecraft and on ground support system computers. Mismodeling only occurred in the ground software.
The Software Interface Specification (SIS), used to define the format of the AMD file, specifies the units associated with the impulse bit to be newton seconds (N·s). Newton seconds are the proper units for impulse (force × time) for metric units. The AMD software installed on the spacecraft used metric units for the computation and was correct. In the case of the ground software, the impulse bit reported to the AMD file was in English units of pounds (force) seconds (lbf·s) rather than the metric units specified. Subsequent processing of the impulse bit values from the AMD file by the navigation software underestimated the effect of the thruster firings on the spacecraft trajectory by a factor of 4.45 (1 lbf·s = 4.45 N·s).
As a result of the incorrectly computed trajectory, the spacecraft's initial periapsis (low-point in the Martian orbit) was only 57 km; the minimum survivable periapsis was 80 km.
Wouldn't an error that large — a factor of 4.45 — have been noticeable? Yes, as it turns out: “Almost immediately (within a week) it became apparent that the files contained anomalous data that was indicating underestimation of the trajectory perturbations due to desaturation events.” However, for a variety of reasons, the source of the inconsistencies wasn't determined until after the loss of the spacecraft.
For the details, read the Mars Climate Orbiter Mishap Investigation Board Phase I Report, issued on 10 November 1999.
(The other half of the mission — Mars Polar Lander — also crashed into the surface of Mars due to a computer program bug, but that incident was not related to measurement.)
Roller Coaster Derailment at Tokyo Disneyland's Space Mountain
What Happened
On 5 December 2003, the Space Mountain roller coaster at Tokyo Disneyland derailed when an axle broke just before the end of the ride; there were no injuries.
Why it Happened
According to a 21 January 2004 report from Oriental Land Co., which built and operates Tokyo Disneyland, the diameter of the broken axle was found to be smaller than its design specification. As a result, the gap between the axle and its bearing, which should have been about 0.2 mm, was actually over 1 mm, resulting in excessive play that caused more vibration than normal, eventually causing the axle to break.
The broken axle was one of 30 axles received in October 2002, all of which were found to be thinner than the design specification as a result of an error when they were ordered in August 2002.
That error arose from improperly maintaining the design drawings. In September 1995, the design specifications for the axle bearing had been changed to metric units, and the specification for the axles was therefore changed as well. As a result, there were two sets of design drawings. In August 2002, the old drawings were mistakenly used to order 44.14 mm axles instead of the correct, 45 mm parts.
The company confirmed that other orders for axles used the correct dimensions.
Gimli Glider: Boeing 767 Emergency Landing
What Happened
On 23 July 1983, Air Canada flight 143, a Boeing 767 flying from Montreal to Edmonton via Ottawa, ran out of fuel about an hour into its flight. At an altitude of 41,000 feet the crew received its first indication of low fuel pressure in one fuel pump, and a few seconds later, in the other fuel pump. (Aircraft are assigned altitudes that are multiples of 1,000 feet. 41,000 ft is about 12,500 m.)
An initial decision to divert to Winnipeg had to be abandoned when both engines failed. Luckily, the first officer was aware of a decommissioned air force base in Gimli, Manitoba, about 20 kilometers away, and the captain was an experienced glider pilot; they managed to land the 767 on the runway — now a drag strip. The partially extended nose gear collapsed on landing, stopping the aircraft before it hit anyone on the ground. Two passengers suffered minor injuries using the emergency slides to evacuate the aircraft.
Why it Happened
The aircraft's fuel quantity indication system had begun malfunctioning three weeks before the incident. It failed completely the night before the flight. The mechanic investigating the failure was told that no spares were available, but he discovered that pulling a circuit breaker brought it back to life, so he left the breaker open, the flight was fueled, and it flew from Edmonton to Ottawa to Montreal without incident.
In Montreal, a maintenance worker was assigned to manually check the aircraft's fuel levels, due to the problems with the fuel monitoring system. While waiting for the fuel truck, he decided to investigate the problem, although he had no training or authority to do so.
Curious about the open breaker, he closed it, causing the fuel gauges to again go blank. He left, and the crew, seeing the blank gauges, decided to resort to manually calculating the amount of fuel required for the trip back to Edmonton and on to Ottawa. (The problem was later determined to be a cold solder joint on an inductor combined with a design flaw that prevented the unit from switching to a backup.)
The maintenance workers performed a test that estimated that 7,682 liters of fuel were in the tank. They knew they needed 22,300 kilograms of fuel for the remaining flight, so the question was, How much fuel, in liters, should be pumped from the fuel truck into the aircraft? They were forced to resort to a manual calculation:
They multiplied 7,682 L by 1.77, the density of the fuel provided by the refueling company on their documentation: The aircraft, according to their calculations, currently had 13,597 kg of fuel.
Subtracting from 22,300 kg, they decided they needed to add 8,703 kg of fuel.
Dividing by 1.77 — the same density used in the previous calculation — yields 4,916 L, which was pumped into the aircraft.
However, 1.77 was the density of the fuel in pounds per liter (lb/L), not kilograms per liter (kg/L); the correct figure for kg/L would have been 0.80. As a result, they ended up with less than half of the required amount of fuel on board. (The fuel's density depends on characteristics of the fuel, so it's not a constant, and the value must be taken from documentation accompanying the fuel.)
The ground crew didn't notice the discrepancy because 1.77 was typical of numbers they'd seen before. They assumed the number was in kg/L, not realizing that this was the first aircraft in Air Canada's fleet to measure fuel in kilograms; density figures on paperwork hadn't yet been changed from lb/L. The refueler didn't notice the discrepancy because he had no idea where the aircraft was headed, so he had no reason to question the relatively small amount of fuel the crew asked for.
In addition, fuel amounts hadn't been calculated by hand since the days of three-man cockpit crews, where the flight engineer was responsible for checking the fuel load. That process was normally handled by computer on an aircraft like the 767. What if the computer wasn't working? In 1983, that question hadn't been adequately addressed.
On aircraft with a two-man crew, tasks formerly assigned to the flight engineer were either automated or assigned to ground staff, so theoretically the ground crew was responsible for ensuring adequate fuelling if the automation couldn't handle it. But maintenance crews had never been trained on how to calculate fuel, so they assumed the flight crew would handle it. But the flight crew had never been trained in this process, either. Furthermore, Boeing documentation at the time was inconsistent as to whether the aircraft could safely fly with a malfunctioning fuel monitoring system.
Media coverage at the time pointed out that this was Air Canada's “first aircraft to use metric measurements,” but that's only partially true. Although it was the first to measure fuel mass in kilograms rather than pounds, fuel volumes were already metric, in liters.
Olympic Triple Jump Loss
What Happened
At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, triple jump champion Melvin Lister was eliminated in the qualifying round. Although he had jumped 17.75 m in Sacramento the previous month, his top jump was only 16.64 m in Athens.
Why it Happened
A Kansas City Star article quoted Lister as saying, “Nobody told me they were only going to have metric out there. I couldn't figure out what my mark was.” And from the 21 August 2004 Los Angeles Times:
Lister blamed his problems on trackside officials' refusal to allow him to use his measuring tape, which measures distances in feet and inches and serves as a guidepost for him. He said he was told the tape “might hurt somebody” because of a spiked attachment and was told to use a metric tape, but he didn't have one and couldn't work with the metric tape organizers supplied.
“Nobody told me I need one,” he said. “Coming down, I need my running speed and to trust in my approach.”
Teammate Walter Davis, who advanced with a leap of 16.94 meters, scoffed at Lister's excuse. “When you're coming overseas, you've got to have a metric tape,” he said. “Mine is in feet and meters. You've got to come prepared.”
Korean Air MD-11 Crash
What Happened
On 15 April 1999, Korean Air flight 6316, an MD-11 freighter on a flight from Shanghai to Seoul, crashed shortly after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. The aircraft was destroyed, its three crew members and five persons on the ground were killed, and 37 on the ground were injured.
Why it Happened
The flight was initially cleared to an altitude of 900 meters, then instructed to climb to 1,500 meters. After reaching about 1,400 meters, the crew erroneously concluded that they had misinterpreted the altitude. Having decided that they should be at 1,500 feet, rather than meters, they began a rapid descent.
During the process, they lost control of the aircraft and crashed.
Note that aircraft altitudes are in feet throughout the world, except for China, Mongolia, and the CIS (former Soviet states), which use meters.
Medication Dose Errors
What Happened
In 2004, a baby was given 5 times the prescribed dose of Zantac Syrup, a medication for reducing stomach acid production, until a doctor pointed out the error a month later. Fortunately, the child was not injured, although doctors say there was a risk of seizure or stroke had the incorrect dosing continued.
Why it Happened
The doctor prescribed a dose of 0.75 milliliter twice a day, but the pharmacist labeled the bottle, “Give 3/4 teaspoonful twice a day.” A teaspoon is about 4.9 mL.
Note that an additional source of error, given a prescription in teaspoons, is that consumers might use teaspoons from the silverware drawer instead of measuring spoons.
See “Pharmacy makes another potentially dangerous prescription mistake” from WFTV for more details.
Source: USMA (United States Metrication Association)
http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/pays-off.html
Historic Expansion of the Metric System:
The United States is the last first world country to retain a purely English system of measurement.
History of the Metric System:
International Aspects of the Metric System:
The Metric System and the American Transportation System
Data collected by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) indicates that just under 65 percent of the 1998 construction dollars will be let for projects using the International System of Measurements (SI). Also, current estimates by the state departments of transportation (DOT) indicate that metric units will be used in projects representing 85 percent of the entire 1999 state-administered highway construction program. These estimates are a substantial increase from 1997 when projects using metric measurements made up 45 percent of the program.
Metric conversion of the U.S. highway industry has come about primarily as a result of the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act. In this act, Congress mandated that federal government agencies use the SI metric system of measurements in their daily business to encourage U.S. industry to adopt SI and to become more competitive in the worldwide
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/septoct98/metric.htm
European Union Directive to Use Metric System:
European Response:
"After January 1, 2000, all products sold in the EU needed to specify and label in metric measurements only. Prior to implementation, the European Commission recommended a 10-year deferral of the metric-only directive, allowing companies to use dual labeling through 2009. The delay provides time for U.S. companies to prepare for a metric-only European market beginning January 1, 2010. After the EU Directive takes effect, member and associated countries will no longer permit dual indications of measurement. U.S. exporters can no longer label or print inches, pounds, or any other non-metric measurement on shipments. This affects labels, packaging, advertising, catalogs, technical manuals, and instructions."
American Response:
"An extraordinary row, involving major European and US industries, is blowing up over the European Commission's determination to make it illegal, in three years' time, for any products made in or imported into the EU to carry any reference to non-metric measures. Not only will this cost industries on both sides of the Atlantic billions of dollars and euros, but it is in direct breach of US federal law. The Commission is so set on stamping out the hated non-metric system that, as of January 1, 2010, it is imposing a total ban on what it calls "supplementary indications" – ie any mention of inches, pounds or other non-metric units in advertising, labelling, catalogues, manuals and the like. "
http://atlanticreview.org/archives/463-European-Union-Directive-American-Exporters-Must-Use-the-Metric-System-Only.html
SOURCES:
Anti-US Metrics:
http://www.freedom2measure.org/
http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/Metrication/metric_land.htm
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/estatopia/inch6.htm
http://www.sonic.net/bernard/wnm-main.html
Anti-UK Metrics:
http://www.bwmaonline.com/
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/estatopia/inch.htm
http://home.clara.net/brianp/index.html
http://www.shaunf.dircon.co.uk/clickers/metron.gif
Pro-Metric:
http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/pays-off.html
http://www.metric4us.com/
http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm
http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/pub814.cfm
http://www.metric.org.uk/home.htm
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/
http://www.metric1.org/
http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/mpo_home.cfm
http://www.caltrans.ca.gov/hq/oppd/metric/primer.htm
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/205a.html
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/septoct98/images/metric.gif
http://atlanticreview.org/archives/463-European-Union-Directive-American-Exporters-Must-Use-the-Metric-System-Only.html